As a kid, I lived in Maine, primarily in a small yuppie suburb (exurb?).
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Aside from the Jewish (the only victims popularly remembered) and certain individuals... *every* German alive at that time is assumed to have been complicit in the horrors of Nazi Germany.
I frankly wonder sometimes if these protests are less about accomplishing anything, and more about *being seen doing something* whether it moves the needle or not, as a social self-defense effort. Being able to avoid accusations of complicity.
Adding to this another flavor of shaming of feeling the "wrong" emotions I've been seeing (as in, mere minutes ago elsewhere): people resenting when their attempts at offering comfort to someone don't work, accusing that person of "refusing to take offered comforts" rather than considering that maybe they're taking the wrong approach to comforting that particular person, and in extreme cases even treating them as spies out to destroy the resistance.
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Adding to this another flavor of shaming of feeling the "wrong" emotions I've been seeing (as in, mere minutes ago elsewhere): people resenting when their attempts at offering comfort to someone don't work, accusing that person of "refusing to take offered comforts" rather than considering that maybe they're taking the wrong approach to comforting that particular person, and in extreme cases even treating them as spies out to destroy the resistance.
Again, *emotions are not a choice*, no matter how insistently our degenerate culture claims that they are. Crying is a sign of someone capable of healthy emotional expression, not something to be shamed, punished, and institutionally beaten out of a person until they turn to self-harm instead and no one understands why.
Something *else* my school did, incidentally. There are reasons "my childhood" is a worthwhile content warning.
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@humanadverb
In my case, "what *can* I do?" is still a question I have no idea how to answer. The messages they want to push (boiling down to "Protest in front of the armed goons that want to kill all your friends, holding a sign they won't read, while on your absolute best behavior, *and be joyful about it!*") are not messages I want to promote, and I don't have better ones in mind. I'm not a social butterfly, either; introversion is treated as a mental illness, *especially* among women.@pteryx @humanadverb I'd say you're already doing the thing that best meshes with your skill set and ability to handle. You're a wordsmith, a truth teller.
Put simply, you're doing what you do best, which is persuade and educate others, spread the word, spread truth and knowledge.
Those things are priceless, never let anyone tell you otherwise. You *are* helping with your very best skill!
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@humanadverb
Except I'm not satisfied with that. "Practice self-care" in this context comes across to me as a pretty way of saying "do nothing, because you're useless; never mind that you'll be called complicit later".The one thing I *did* do last year, namely prep, I've reached the limits of for my living conditions (and not just financially; there's really only one category left and it's one I don't think I have the emotional capacity for).
@pteryx People who haven't been photographed at protests are going to be needed, later on. People who have safe places to retreat are going to be needed, later on. Being as maximally stable as you can be is actually really important prep work.
People who are focused on how they'll be remembered aren't gonna do a lot of good for people.
So, you're not out there partying with the cool kids and getting tear-gased. Sounds smart, useful, and like *real* resistance.
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@pteryx People who haven't been photographed at protests are going to be needed, later on. People who have safe places to retreat are going to be needed, later on. Being as maximally stable as you can be is actually really important prep work.
People who are focused on how they'll be remembered aren't gonna do a lot of good for people.
So, you're not out there partying with the cool kids and getting tear-gased. Sounds smart, useful, and like *real* resistance.
@pteryx From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.
Anyone looking to mock or accuse anyone who doesn't fit their narrow definition of "the work" is counterrevolutionary.
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Aside from the Jewish (the only victims popularly remembered) and certain individuals... *every* German alive at that time is assumed to have been complicit in the horrors of Nazi Germany.
I frankly wonder sometimes if these protests are less about accomplishing anything, and more about *being seen doing something* whether it moves the needle or not, as a social self-defense effort. Being able to avoid accusations of complicity.
Oh, and it *also* doesn't help that while once upon a time protests had an implied threat of escalation backing them up, which gave them a lot of their power, nowadays people have magical beliefs about universally peaceful resistance, the more peaceful and polite the better. "Don't escalate or you'll give the fascists an excuse!", they scream, as though the fascists won't make up excuses that the press will parrot anyway, and others will believe.
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Oh, and it *also* doesn't help that while once upon a time protests had an implied threat of escalation backing them up, which gave them a lot of their power, nowadays people have magical beliefs about universally peaceful resistance, the more peaceful and polite the better. "Don't escalate or you'll give the fascists an excuse!", they scream, as though the fascists won't make up excuses that the press will parrot anyway, and others will believe.
So that *also* makes it hard for me to take seriously the idea that protests that are the beginning and the end of what we do will do anything. Or take seriously the idea that writing Congress will be any more effective this year than it was two years ago; signing petitions and editing form letters is what I usually do, and still do.
Damn it, I want to do more than cower in a closet full of freeze-dried food making angry noises.
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Oh, and it *also* doesn't help that while once upon a time protests had an implied threat of escalation backing them up, which gave them a lot of their power, nowadays people have magical beliefs about universally peaceful resistance, the more peaceful and polite the better. "Don't escalate or you'll give the fascists an excuse!", they scream, as though the fascists won't make up excuses that the press will parrot anyway, and others will believe.
@pteryx Unfortunately I have to agree. We're at least a decade past when "Here we all are, see how many of us disagree with X?" carries meaningful weight.
I'd ask what I can do that's meaningful, but it seems like you think because of where I live, I have an extra helping of blame and thus should be expected to do more, risk more, sacrifice more than someone who lives in a blue state. You may not even be wrong.
1/2
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Oh, and it *also* doesn't help that while once upon a time protests had an implied threat of escalation backing them up, which gave them a lot of their power, nowadays people have magical beliefs about universally peaceful resistance, the more peaceful and polite the better. "Don't escalate or you'll give the fascists an excuse!", they scream, as though the fascists won't make up excuses that the press will parrot anyway, and others will believe.
@pteryx I'm not crazy about the idea I'm "less innocent" than anyone else because the only housing I could get is in the south, considering I vote blue. But I can't entirely disagree with it either, even if guilt by association doesn't feel fair.
Whatever I can do to help, I intend to. Thinking carefully about WHAT helps most, beyond voting and persuading, is crucial. Making each action count. My health and energy increasingly limits what I can do.
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@pteryx I'm not crazy about the idea I'm "less innocent" than anyone else because the only housing I could get is in the south, considering I vote blue. But I can't entirely disagree with it either, even if guilt by association doesn't feel fair.
Whatever I can do to help, I intend to. Thinking carefully about WHAT helps most, beyond voting and persuading, is crucial. Making each action count. My health and energy increasingly limits what I can do.
@Scendera
I have, at least, wondered from time to time whether looking into Stop Cop City would be an appropriate starting point from which you could figure out the right thing for you to do. It's kind of old news by now, and I'd assume too late to do anything more there in particular, but I'd think the kinds of people who'd tie themselves to construction equipment to stop it from being used would be the kinds of people with ideas.
